And
by TaiKaze
Summary: The life of Doctor and Rose after Journeys End.


[AN; This is really what stories look like in my head before I write them down. This is the raw format, Straight from my brain, with a little (lotsa) beta from LiboChan! X3]

And then they are alone on a windy beach somewhere on the Norwegian coast. Rose is shaking and sobbing, Jackie twists her hands, not knowing what to do and the new Doctor, the not even day-old Doctor looks at the spot where just seconds ago there was a blue box, but now it's just sand and light left.

And he takes the steps that separates them and wrap his arms around the crying woman because he understands that she will always miss him, even if he's right there, because she knows he will always be alone and he will never see her again.

And he gently pulls her phone from her pocket and holds it out for Jackie without looking at her. He feels it leave his fingers and then slowly turns the still sobbing woman around so she can burry her cries against his one beating heart while her mother calls for a ride.

And he whispers into her soft hair, not empty words like "It will be alright" or "He'll be just fine, don't cry", but hushed things, songs the stars sing for their children as they go out. Words long forgotten in time. He whispers in his own language, a dead and lost one, so that she knows he is there and he will never leave her again. He will hold her hand and they will run together for the rest of their lives.

And Pete has been worried, so he comes to pick them up himself and he is shocked and happy to hear about the Doctor, asks him what they should call him now, because a human needs a real name and he glances at Rose and says John. John Tyler.

And Rose smiles.

And Torchwood always seems different when he comes. Now it's not the same as before, or any version he's ever seen, and he understands that Rose has done a very thorough make-over and he loves her more for it.

And he gets to work because they need him. He knows things they don't and never will and he's human so he needs a job to pay rent and bills (even though he lives with Rose and she takes care of most of that) so he goes up at six and he comes home at God knows when, because they have a rift in this Cardiff too and things fall in and out at an alarming rate.

And one day as he runs after his wife (Jackie kept insisting and neither of them minded) through a very normal office, he sees a face he never thought he would see again and he turns and almost falls over the thin half-wall separating her from the corridor and stares at her.

"What? Can I help you? Is there something on my face? What do you want?"

"Donna Noble...!"

"Yeah...? How did you...?"

"Sorry! Gotta dash, I'll be in touch!"

"What...? WAIT!"

And he calls her, offers her a job and she comes for the interview and Rose gets all giggly when they shake hands and when Donna asks "Why me?" he answers without a doubt.

"Because you are brilliant!"

And of course she doesn't believe him but she nearly faints when she hears the numbers on her paycheck and she takes the job.

And he survives what he so far calls the worst day in his life when Rose is shot just as he manages to shove all the pesky little invaders back into the rift and she falls to the ground and she's just lucky a proper medical doctor was in the crowd or she would have died before they could get her to the ER and when he gets to shake the hand of the medic who saved his wife he speaks before she can.

"Martha Jones, yes I know! Say, would you like a different job Martha? I have a feeling you'd like it."

And Rose accuses him of gathering up a harem, but she does it with a smile and he shrugs out a "Yeah, didn't think you'd mind..." which makes her laugh more then she should and he gets schooled for upsetting the patients and is asked to leave.

And Torchwood is on fire, they are the stuff of legend and not so secret anymore. Which might be good and it might be bad because they have to deal with the publicity (Pete takes care of most of it but still) and it's good because now people know who to turn to when weird stuff happens and they get a lot of wackos and false alarms but Rose keeps drilling that it's better then missing the important calls.

And she rules Torchwood with an iron hand in a silk glove. They call her Union Rose and he is so proud of her, just like everyone else who works there. She knows them all by first name and she understands sickdays and family issues that turns out to be hangovers and shoppingsprees, and they love her for that.

And she is right on the front line, the defender of Earth, and he is in her shadow, defender of Rose.

And when she tells him he walks around the apartment for almost an hour before he can sit down again and she tells him to breathe and he laughs.

And at some point a while later they're at work, and he's talking to Donna, who always was and always will be one of the best friends he ever had, and Rose comes up and kisses his cheek and suddenly someone talks very loudly.

"I wouldn't be so nice to him if I where you, Mrs. Tyler!"

And Rose looks just as confused as the rest of Torchwood because everyone in the universe (and then some) knows how much they love each other and it's one of Donna's co-workers that's talking.

"He's cheating on you with Miss Noble!"

And they stare at the woman because if this is a way to get Donna fired it's not working. All three of them snort, then giggle then laugh to an obscene amount until the entire room joins them.

And Donna is graceful as always.

"HIM? Ha! In you'r dreams, alien-boy!"

"Yeah, that would be the only place...!"

"Oh dear God my stomach!"

And the accuser shrinks away into the background and the laughter dies down and Rose asks Donna if she'll be the godmother and Martha if it wasn't her husband that worked in pediatrics, and of course, yes.

And so she is born, the most precious thing in the entire universe, and Rose can't stop smiling and the Doctor (nobody actually calls him John) holds up Toby so he can get a good look at his niece and he almost faints as Rose and Donna agrees that Jenny is a splendid name for the little girl. He can't find a good reason to object and Jenny it is, and part of him knew all along cause last time he had a daughter she was blond, amazing and born with mascara. Not to mentioned named by Donna.

And his little girl grows up at Torchwood, and Rose teaches her to fire a gun and Martha teaches her all the vital points so she can avoid shooting them and Donna teaches her how to stay human in this place and he teaches her about the stars and how they turn around them selfs.

And it really isn't that big of a surprise when earth gets into a peaceful contact with the rest of the universe and colonies are built and they spread out over the galaxies.

And it's really no surprise when they start finding brochures for the space-academy even though Jenny is two years to young to attend.

And Rose strokes his hair and tells him that "She's your daughter, of course she wishes for the stars." and Donna smacks his arm and tells him to "Suck it up, space-man! She's going to grow up one day, let her be prepared for it!" and Martha pats his back and tells him "She'll fly away, you can't stop her. Don't worry, she'll come home. Just like you, she'll zoom off in to space but she'll come back to earth, she'll come home. Just like you used to."

And he lets her go. She smiles and cries and flies off to the stars.

And then life on the front line takes its toll and he feels his heart sink when Martha comes out from the ER and shakes her head and he sits by her bed and holds her hand as he tells his wife that even though she might walk again, she'll never run.

And Rose grits her teeth as tears roll down her cheeks but she refuses to let Jenny come home, she has important things to do. So she hands the reins over to Jake, and Toby protests that he's old enough but he's to hot-headed still so he is bumped up to second-in-command.

And after six months Rose is up and walking around the HQ, ruling with her iron hand and silk glove and even though she is amazing in every way she still struggles with the stairs.

And after years and years, far to few if you ask him, Rose is in that bed that she'll never leave and he cries and begs her to stay and Donna hold on to his shoulder, because she will out-live them all just to make sure they are alright and Rose smiles at him and whispers that she couldn't have asked for anything more and apologies for making him watch her die and he cries and she says that she'll be there when he goes and then she's gone.

And he soldiers on and one day his heart gives up and he has no spare one, half human he is, and Donna sits by his bed and hold his hand and Martha calls but she can't make the trip because her own heart is just as old and worn down and Jenny makes it in time and he tells her everything, all the things he's seen and done, since his birth to this point and she cries but he has no more tears and he can hear the crashing of waves against Norway's coast and the engine of the TARDIS and a voice telling him to just let go already and he whispers "Rose..."

And...


End file.
